Effect of extraction time and Na 2 CO 3 concentration on the characteristics of alginate extracted from sargassum sp.

Abstract

Alginate is a polysaccharide extracted from cell walls and intracellular matrix of brown seaweed, and has been widely used for industrial purpose due to gelling capabilities in the presence of divalent cations. However, the characteristics of alginate extracted are depend on alginate gel strength and viscosity. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of extraction time and Na 2 CO 3 concentration on the characteristics of alginates extracted from Sargassum sp. by acid method. Alginate extractions were conducted by varying the extraction time for 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 hours; and varying the Na 2 CO 3 concentration of 1, 2 and 3 %. The characteristics observed are alginate yield, viscosity, pH, and water content. The alginates extracted using various Na 2 CO 3 concentration and extraction time resulted alginates with low, medium and high viscosity. Furthermore, the yield, pH and water content of alginates extracted in this research had fulfilled the standard of Food Chemical Codex.